Electronic devices such as mobile phones and computers including wireless communication transceivers typically include both a user input interface in the form of keys or buttons, and a user output interface in the form of one or more displays. Audio interfaces are normally also included by means of speakers and microphones. In terms of traditional telephony services, user input keys are typically used for setting up calls, whereas the microphone and the speaker are used for standard speech communication.
In recent years, mobile phones have become much more than pure speech communication devices. Fast development and miniaturization in battery technology and electronic components, as well as the breakthrough of small high resolution color displays, has lead to compact radio communication terminals more and more taking the form of media terminals. Many mobile phones of today are capable of receiving FM radio, and comprise digital media players for playing music. Digital video may also be stored and presented on the display of some types of terminals. It is generally possible for a user to access locally stored media items through playlists including stored media items, or to access radio channels through radio station playlists. It is also possible to create personal playlists of e.g. locally stored music tracks, such as a playlist including a number of specifically selected songs, or a playlist with a predefined set of music tracks collected from a certain artist or representing a certain style or genre. Activation of that playlist will then trigger the media player to play the items defined in the list, either in the playlist order or in random order. Activation of an FM radio channel in a radio playlist will set a tuner to the frequency of that channel and play it in real time without storing. The played items are presented on the user output of the terminal, i.e. on the display in the case of video, or through a speaker or earpiece in the case of audio.
However, there are today many different ways and sources for accessing media items in a portable radio communication terminal. Locally stored media is one source and FM radio is another. Yet another type of media source is streaming video or audio. Streaming audio is one-way audio transmission over a data network, and is widely used on the Internet as well as private intranets to deliver audio on demand or an audio broadcast, so called Internet radio or web radio. Unlike audio files used for storing in local memories in the terminal, such as wav and mp3, which are played after they are downloaded, streaming audio is played within a few seconds of requesting it and the data is not stored permanently in the terminal. If the streaming audio is broadcast live, it is sometimes called “realtime audio”. However, technically, realtime means no delays, and there is a built-in delay in streaming audio (see realtime audio). The reason for this is that listening to momentary blips in music or a conversation is annoying, and the only way to compensate for that over an erratic network such as the Internet is to get some of the audio data into the computer before you start listening to it. In streaming audio, both the client and server cooperate for uninterrupted sound. The client side stores a few seconds of sound in a data buffer before it starts sending it to the speakers. Throughout the session, it continues to receive audio data ahead of time. One existing example of streaming radio is provided by Sony® under the name StreamMan. StreamMan is a mobile streaming music solution provided to mobile operators, and offers personalized channels according to user's mood or activity, or by adaptation by rating of different tracks played, performed by the user. StreamMan also offers playlists, download and a community feature.
Management of media items in radio communication terminals is predominantly performed by means of a graphical user interface presented on the terminal display, and user commands through a the user input interface, including e.g. keys or a touch-sensitive display. However, regardless of how advanced the terminal is it is still a major market requirement that the terminal is compact and lightweight. This puts a constraint on the size of the display and the graphical user interface for presenting information menus. Therefore, access of media items, such as music tracks and movies in digital form, is typically performed through menu systems in which different media sources and playlists can be found by browsing. Smart keys and navigation systems have been developed by many terminal manufacturers over the years, due to the fact that the more functions a terminal can hold, the more complex the navigation system tends to become. Finding the right menu and playlist for storing or accessing media items in different menus may therefore be a tricky task. A simplified way of handling media items in radio communication terminals would therefore be desirable.